Brownback gets tax bill, has 10 days to decide next move

The clock is ticking for Gov. Sam Brownback to decide the fate of a tax bill passed by the Kansas Legislature that would raise more than $1 billion over the next two years.

The legislation, passed by the House and Senate last week, was officially received by the governor’s office on Tuesday, his spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

Brownback has 10 days to veto the bill, sign it or let it become law without his signature.

He has said he will not sign the bill.

HB 2178 raises income tax rates and ends a tax exemption for roughly 330,000 business owners.

The bottom rate of 2.7 percent would stay the same, but the second rate of 4.6 percent would rise to 5.25 percent. A third rate of 5.45 percent would be added.

The state faces projected budget shortfalls of roughly $750 million over the next two fiscal years.

Moderate Republicans joined Democrats in both chambers in voting for the bill, which rolls back many of the Brownback-supported tax cuts passed in 2012.

Those changes included eliminating a third income tax bracket and giving a tax exemption to thousands of business owners.

Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, R-Overland Park, said after a leadership meeting with the governor on Monday that he had no indication what the governor will do.

“I can’t tell you which direction he’s leaning,” Denning said. “I don’t know that.”

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Brownback gets tax bill, has 10 days to decide next move."